Galloway challenges US senator to ‘put up or shut up’

BRITISH politician George Galloway yesterday challenged US senators to charge him with perjury over claims that he solicited money from Saddam Hussein’s oil-for-food programme and lied about it under oath.

The US Senate committee investigating the Respect MP's alleged involvement in the saga claims to have discovered $150,000 (€124,000) in Iraqi oil money in his estranged wife's bank account.

And its chairman, Republican Senator Norm Coleman, says this means Mr Galloway lied under oath when giving evidence to the Senate Permanent Sub-committee on Investigations on May 17 this year, when he offered a passionate defence against similar claims

But Mr Galloway repeated denials that he had ever received any oil cash, and told Mr Coleman to "put up or shut up" by either bringing a prosecution or dropping the allegations.

The Bethnal Green and Bow MP accused Mr Coleman of orchestrating a "sneak revenge attack" motivated by a desire to avenge his "humiliation" at the hearing in May.

"I am demanding prosecution, I am begging for prosecution," Mr Galloway told Sky News.

"I am saying if I have lied under oath in front of the Senate, that's a criminal offence. Charge me and I will head for the airport right now and face them down in court as I faced them down in the Senate room.

"Because I publicly humiliated this lick-spittle senator Norman Coleman one of [President George W] Bush's right-hand men in the US Senate in May, this sneak revenge attack has been launched over the last 24 hours."

The committee's new report accuses Mr Galloway of personally soliciting and being granted eight oil allocations totalling 23 million barrels from the Hussein government between 1999 and 2003.

It claims that his estranged wife Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad received approximately $150,000 in connection with one allocation of oil.

And it alleges that at least $446,000 (€369,000) was funnelled to Mr Galloway's Mariam Appeal through several allocations.

Senator Coleman said: "I directed the sub-committee to continue its investigation into Mr Galloway because his testimony at the May 17, 2005 hearing clearly conflicted with the evidence."

"The additional evidence... clearly demonstrates that the testimony Mr Galloway provided to the sub-committee was false and misleading."

In its initial report the committee accused the MP of receiving 20 million barrels of oil from Saddam Hussein's regime.

Dr Abu-Zayyad is quoted in the report denying she received any money.

Asked whether she or her husband had benefited from Iraqi oil sales, she replied to the committee in writing: "I have never solicited or received from Iraq or anyone else any proceeds of any oil deals, either for myself or for my former husband."